‘Rise of households’ access to Internet spreads new violence against women, kids’

AMMAN — A recent survey conducted by the Department of Statistics in cooperation with the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology showed that 80.8 per cent of households use the Internet at home, while some 56 per cent of individuals aged above five years old use the Internet.

Citing the 2016 Household Use of Information Technology Survey, the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) indicated that males make up 53.1 per cent of Internet users compared to 46.9 per cent of females, noting that 29.1 per cent of male and female users spend less than an hour on the Internet per day, while 8.8 per cent of them spend four hours or more.

Meanwhile, it showed that 96.5 per cent of all users connect to the Internet through their smartphones or tablets.

 In terms of age, the survey showed that 14.4 per cent of males and 13.1 per cent of females aged five-nine years use the Internet, in addition to 30.3 per cent of males and 26 per cent of females aged 10-14 years, SIGI added.

The most popular Internet services accessed by users were recorded as social media outlets (93.2 per cent), chatting (83.4 per cent), music and movies (67.6 per cent) and online games (52.9 per cent), the statement read, warning against the dangers linked to the spread of modern technology.

“Modern technology has contributed to the rise of new types of violence against women and girls, the most common of which are electronic stalking, extortion and sexual harassments, as well as computer surveillance and espionage, illegal use of images and videos, human trafficking for illegal sexual uses,” the statement said, also citing the impersonation of names and personalities to lure women, girls and children, especially in chat rooms and other platforms.